The true story of four North Perth residents and their quest to dine in every restaurant on Beaufort Street.

05 June 2009

Little Saigon

Booto and the Sponge, having known the Deliberator for far too long, made a booking at Little Saigon for 8.00, but wisely told the Deliberator the reservation was for 7.30. As 7.30 approached, Booto and the Sponge casually went about their business, attending to Stinks and discussing their pre-dinner snifter (‘was this the $5 white from the Re Store?’, ‘oh, no no no, this one was $7.80 from Dan Murphy’s… so don’t quaff it, enjoy the fine flavours and sip slowly woman’). However, for possibly the first time in the Deliberator’s 1.5 year history of Beaufort Street Blogging, the Deliberator was home, dressed, shoed, washed, texting the others furiously and ready for action by 7.20. This left Booto, the Sponge and the Brains in a never-before-experienced situation. They were going to be early.

On arrival at Little Saigon, the Bloggers were happy to discover their pre-booked table ready to go, complete with a high chair for Stinks. Booto, the Brains and Stinks happily sorted themselves out while the Deliberator and the Sponge went across the road to the Merchant for more of their favourite cheap piss. During their absence, our fabulous waitress made all the appropriate looks, sounds and movements in front of Stinky to keep Stinks well pleased with himself for the next 2.5 hours.

Entrees arrived and they were tremendous. We ordered 2 serves of prawn and potato cakes, 1 serve of stuffed chicken wings and 2 serves of rice-paper rolls with hot (hot!) beef. The prawn and potato cakes are outstanding – shredded sweet potato wrapped around a huge, plump prawn and deep fried till crisp. There’s so much surface area on these things that there must be about 4 tablespoons of oil in each one, which makes ordering them very worthwhile. The stuffed chicken wings were not the monsters we’re used to, but were far more flavoursome than their Viet Hoa or Phi Yen counterparts. And fresh rice paper rolls with steaming hot crispy beef? Heaven. We really wanted to try the stuffed squid but couldn’t justify more food – could someone please try it and let us know how it is?

While we smashed our entrées and bottles of cheap wine numbers 1 and 2, we watched other people’s mains pass us by, until one looked so fantastic we stopped the waitress on her way out the kitchen and asked what it was. It was the old Vietnamese favourite, lemongrass and chilli chicken, but it was done better than anywhere else we could recall. For mains we also chowed down on a plate of lightly deep friend salt and pepper squid (fast becoming a benchmark we use to compare all Beaufort Street eateries) which was perfect, pork with anchovy sauce (amazing ribs cooked in that pan-Asian method - being grill the shit out the food, add salt, serve), goat curry (which was delicious, but a bit sinewey and tripey, and loaded with cloves, and although we consider ourselves adventurous, apart from the Deliberator we are all a bit more Caucasian than we’d like to think when it comes to food preferences), and finally, on a crazy and embarrassing whim, mixed vegetables. All in all outstanding Vietnamese cuisine.

And now to the service. What a delight. The fellow who took our order was charming, courteous and ever-so-friendly. And our waitress, who turned out to be the chef’s sister, quickly fell in love with Stinky (and who wouldn’t?). Stinky got cuddles, kisses, 2 trips to the kitchen to meet the chef, a couple of photos with the waitress and even a free Vietnamese desert.

Our meals came out in good time, we were quickly supplied with the 5 or 6 ice buckets we needed, the Sponge smashed a glass which was swiftly swept up and replaced with a minimum of fuss (he also managed to smash another one later that evening on the Balcony of Broken Dreams. This time, with the Deliberator as the host, there was a maximum amount of fuss and a refusal to replace, leaving poor old Sponge drinking straight from the bottle for the rest of the evening) and smiles all round from the wait staff.

In summary:

Service: A joy. Particularly thanks to the due appreciation the staff showed for Stinky’s fine looks and impeccable behaviour.

Lowlight: Nothing really. While the goat curry didn’t float our boat (except the Deliberator's), it was an ordering problem, not a cooking problem.

Rating: 4.4 goi cuon out of 5.

Will we be back: Absolutely. It’s a perfect place to take parents too – good food, not too noisy and it’s not grimy and plasticy like the Vietnamese restaurants in Northbridge (and no disrespect to those places, we love them, but we know the older generation sometimes struggle with them).

Details: Little Saigon is located at 489 Beaufort St, and can be contacted by phone on 9227 5586. Reservations are strongly recommended. 3 good sized entrees and 4 mains plus vegetables and rice came to a low low $35 a head.

28 comments:

Agree absolutely and thoroughly. After a very tiring effort at the Cooking School (great class but very a full and a very vocal, albeit friendly, mob whose attention spans for the culinary arts were considerably overpowered by their attention on vins blancs et rouges)the lovely Jan and I headed to the Merchant for a late night bite, only to be thwarted by the closure of the kitchen. (It was after 10:15, after all.) So we proceeded to cross the road with a few Merchant take-aways from the beer and wine departments under arm.And to the Saigon we went. Wow!!! This is seriously good tucker, seriously good serice and a seriously good restauarant at a very, very reasonable tariff, given the package. The anonymous soul above who quibbled at $35 a head has no farking idea!!!

nice review and agree with all points except the goat curry which i have found on two occasions to be quite pleasant. mine had masses of eggplant in it thou...making a booking here is always a good option and everytime i go i am amazed that a seemingly simplistic eatery can outshine more sophisticated restaurants nearby

Vaughan - thank god someone has tried the stuffed squid. We will certainly order them on the next trip.

The Cooking Professor - thanks for your feedback and your story. It's so good that you can get a decent late night feed so close to home. We love the accommodating staff - we've found so many restaurants in the area putting rules on everything they can or cannot do, it's refreshing to go to a restaurant and feel that people are there to actually help.

Cookster - crutch from low flying seagull was number 47 on the menu. We didn't get that far.

David Cohen - Stinky's dessert was comprised of 6 separate gelatinous and unrecognisable flavours. And sorry about the spelling. The Deliberator wouldn't even feel a kick up the arse. And Soto will come, sheesh, what's your beef with / love for that place? Please disclose your interest.

andrew - there was no eggplant in our curry. And it really was nice, just not quite what we had expected. Absolutely agree with your comment. It is quite interesting how a place can charge $35 a head can consistently get things right, when places charging $20 or more fuck it up so badly. Yes Caffe Martino, that means you.

Look: to this boy from Booragoon, Soto seemed to be the ultimate in modern sophistication. Although I can reveal someone we know went right off it. She ordered the tempe burger, it took ages to arrive - and when it did the bun had been toasted twice, rendering it inedible.

Looking forward to your assessment - but bruish up on your spelling, hmmmm?

Anonymous strikes me as one who still considers beef and black bean as the height of Asian cuisine.

Great review, great because I agree, the food is always good so long as you order correctly. You can occasionally err and cop something you just can't quite take, the goat curry for example. I did it with the soft shell crab...their version not so good.

Seriously one of the best food blog in Perth!! :) - agree with your verdict on Saigon's goat curry. Wasnt spectacular. They were very good with my Chubby Cheeks too. Probably have trained their staff with baby entertaining 101 -Please try Gogo's Curry House (famous for their marinated lamb chops!) and Two Fat Indians. Would be interesting to know how you rate these two indian joints. -Used to come down Beaufort St everyday. Miss it dearly now that ive moved. -Stinky is getting his food education early!! Thats awesome.

I live down Broome St and I probably never would have tried this place - but I am absolutely going to now - possibly even tonight. My friends and I once joked about working our way down the restaurants on Beaufort - I'm so pleased to see you guys doing it and reviewing it far better than we ever would! Awesome blog!

I think you guys are damn rude for just leaving this blog and your readers in the lurch!Very bad form boy's! Like a bad restaurant, except they don't pack up and bugger off overnight without even so much as a CLOSED sign on the door!!!!!!!

Oh dear and now spam from China.....So miss reading your blog, I could pretend that on my next visit to Aus I would use your blog as my guide to where to eat out with friends... Seeing as though it is highly unlikely that I will be back in Perth I guess it doesn´t matter that you are no longer blogging, but hey it was really good while it lasted.

We all understand the stories about USMilitary in Vietnam who killed entire villages including women and children, toddlers and infants.Unashamed vet in the public sector, SUPPORTED BY YOUR TAX DOLLARS, earning six figures/year. This history should have affected the family business as well.

Beaufort Street Bloggers

It has been a long held tradition for the Beaufort Street Bloggers to eat together on a Thursday night. After all, Thursday is the new Friday. To spice up Thursday night dining in 2008, a unanimous decision was made to eat at every restaurant on Beaufort Street, starting from the top of Inglewood and working our way down to the city. There will undoubtedly be some lowlights (think Dial-A-Chop-Stix and the Civic Hotel), but there is a whole bunch of good food around this part of town. The rules are simple, to qualify, a restaurant must have room for us to sit in and be open on Thursday nights. This blog documents the results of this lofty challenge. If you want to contact the bloggers, please email beaufortstreetbloggers [at] gmail [dot] com

So who are the Beaufort Street Bloggers?

The Deliberator

World renowned (he has excessively deliberated over menus the world over, to the chagrin of many a waiter), the Deliberator takes pride in his ability to frustrate even the most tolerant of wait staff, let alone his long suffering fellow Beaufort Street Bloggers.

Reflecting on himself (in a positive light as always), the Deliberator lists his favourite past times as pork belly, champagne cocktails and falling asleep on other people’s couches. Upon review of what lies ahead of him in the 2008 Beaufort Street Challenge, the Deliberator remained focussed on the year ahead, stating only that he was glad there were going to be a few budget Thursday nights ahead, as he has already committed 3 months wages to the purchase of a ring from Tiffanys for a certain pixie haired blonde within the team.

Despite still harbouring a love of vegemite on toast from his university days, the Deliberator prides himself on his culinary prowess and exacting standards. He has declared 2008 the year he not only finally drives a waiter to suicide and/or mass murder, but also establishes himself as the West’s answer to the Lygon Street gangster, tipping that before the year is out the name “Deliberator” will be spoken with hushed reverence in cafes and restaurants the length and breadth of Beaufort St.

The Brains

Aptly named because she is indeed the “brains" behind the 2008 Beaufort Street Challenge and also, because sometimes she just seems so smart the entire team prefers that she orders for them, the Brains is a complex character – lawyer by day, avid restaurant reviewer by night and frustrated interior decorator for pretty much all of the time in between.

The 2008 Beaufort Street Challenge came to the Brains whilst on her 7th glass of champagne just after Christmas 2007. Throwing caution to the wind, she drained her glass, slammed the table and declared to all and sundry in a rather agitated voice “2008….2008 we’re doing it. We’re starting at the top and we’re not stopping til the end!” Upon seeing the puzzled stares of those around her , the Brains went on to explain in more detail that what she meant was that 2008 was the year she and her fellow diners would begin at the top of Beaufort Street and eat at every eating establishment before the year was out. Needless to say her fellow team members were yet again left reeling at the sheer genius that is “The Brains”.

The Brains is also the long suffering partner of the Deliberator, having accompanied him on his most recent overseas expeditions to restaurants throughout Europe and Asia. Amenable in nature and blessed with the patience of a saint, the Brains only has to see a Tiffany & Co. advertisement to remind herself that one day, one day very soon, it will all be worthwhile….

Bito (Bun in the Oven)

Reformed party girl whose previous mantra was “Thursday is the new Friday”, BITO is currently at the 24 week mark of an alcohol free sentence known to most as pregnancy. Whilst BYO and corkage are no longer of concern to BITO, it is testament to her spirit and commitment to the team that she has committed herself to the 2008 Beaufort Street challenge in the role of designated driver.

Even before eating for 2, BITO was a committed fan of various Beaufort Street establishments and did not have to be asked twice when contacted by the Brains with regards to the 2008 Beaufort Street Challenge, stating only that there was no bloody way she was doing Jackson’s degustation menu sans alcohol.

Married to “The Sponge”, Bito is renowned in the team for her new found patience and tolerance of drunkards in her automobile.

The Sponge

Standing at the immodest height of 6 foot 4”, with size 14 feet, the Sponge has an appetite known to send many a kitchen into a flurry and a capacity for alcohol that has seen more than the odd sommelier rubbing his hands in delight.

Responsible for BITO’s current plight, the Sponge sees 2008 as the year he becomes a first time father yes, but more importantly, the year in which finally establishes himself as force to be reckoned within the Beaufort Street precinct.

When asked what unique attributes he thought he brought to the 2008 Beaufort Street Challenge, the Sponge declared that whilst he preferred to think of himself as a bit of an “all rounder”, he did think his world class background in spaghetti marinara and a capacity to calculate corkage in the blink of an eyelid were going to prove invaluable to the team in the year ahead.